Basic Greetings

Komu eshta? – You often say things differently depending on whether you are speaking formally or informally. Speak formally to people you meet for the first time, people older than you, or as a general sign of respect.

Eshtoh baym[ng], Obrigahdu/a – lit. ‘I am well, thank you.’ This is perhaps the most common response to the above question. For ‘thank you’, men say ‘obrigado’, women say ‘obrigada’ (regardless of whether the person they are talking to is male or female). More on this later.

Eshtohohtimu/a – note that the ‘p’ in ‘optimo’ (fine) is virtually silent (the Brazilian spelling, without a ‘p’, was adopted in the Portuguese orthographic agreement, so technically it should be omitted when writing). Again, whether to use ‘optimo’ or ‘optima’ depends on your own gender.

Toodu baym[ng]? – lit. ‘everything well?’ Note: This is probably the most common greeting in Portuguese - it is used much more frequently than ‘como está?’ (this is true in Portugal, despite it being a Brazilian expression).

M[ng]wee[ng]tu Prazair – lit. ‘much pleasure.’ The word ‘muito’ has a very nasal sound, which kind of breaks the rules of pronunciation! Sometimes it can sound more like ‘moitu’, depending on the accent of the speaker.

Chow – this is a Brazilian expression (an orthographical adaptation of the Italian word ‘ciao’, probably introduced to Brazil by Italian immigrants), but is widely used by Portuguese as well (apparently some people also spell it ‘Xau’).

To say ‘you're welcome’ (as a response to ‘thank you’) in Portuguese is ‘de nada’ (literally, ‘of nothing’ - which doesn’t seem to make sense, but there you go). In other circumstances (eg. when someone arrives at your home), ‘welcome’ would be ‘bem vindo/a’ (or more formally to a large group ‘boas vindas’). The verb ‘to welcome’ is ‘acolher’.

* There is some debate about the correct usage of the words obrigado and obrigada. The usage indicated above is by far the most common way the words are used, that is, men always say obrigado and women always say obrigada. This usage implies that the word is being used as an adjective to describe the one speaking (literally meaning ‘obliged’).

Technically , it can be argued that the word obrigado, when used on its own to say ‘thank you’, is an interjection, not an adjective (in the same way that the word ‘hello’ is an interjection). Under this school of thought, both men and women should say obrigado regardless of whether they are addressing a man or a woman. Whilst this is probably the ‘correct’ usage, it is hardly ever encountered. Of course, if you are male, it doesn’t really matter as you would say obrigado anyway.

In some regions, particularly the Algarve, it is common for both men and women to use both obrigado and obrigada - switching between them depending on the gender of the person they are talking to. However, this usage does not seem to have any rational technical explanation! I would therefore recommend against that usage unless you happen to live in a region where the locals would be offended if you addressed them differently.